Snake and Flower, Sun and Moon (1)

An army ahead. Another behind. And in the middle of it all, the armored twins charged forward. Their spears cut a path through their enemies easily. Like ancient Gods of War in Chinese history, Wen Lu and Wen Zhi stampeded through the battlefield, flinging their opponents into the air with each swing.

“Hey, doesn’t this remind you of something, bro?” Wen Zhi said as he slowed down from his spin attack. “Feels like we’re Guan Yu and Zhang Fei or something, don’t it?”

Wen Lu sighed as he took down several more soldiers.

“I appreciate the moment of camaraderie, but I would much rather be tossing back some wine and strategizing, rather than being at the thick of it….”

Wen Zhi may have the inklings of a battle maniac, but Wen Lu referred a more… ‘cerebral’ type of battle. His eyes scanned the area, seeing soldiers literally bounce off his spear and tumble to the ground like a kicked traffic cone. The flood of soldiers was really just an annoyance and getting in the way of their objective.

A stray sword broke through Wen Zhi’s defense, but rather than do any damage, the metal blade snapped upon impact. Wen Zhi just gave him a sheepish grin and punched him in the face. None of them could hurt him.

Seeing this, the soldiers tried to swarm Wen Lu instead, whose specialty was magic defense. A blade eventually found its way to Wen Lu’s back, but surprisingly, this blade shattered upon impact as well.

Wen Lu looked back and sent an elbow to the attacker, chiding himself for a moment of carelessness. Even if he had prepared beforehand, it wouldn’t do for him to get sloppy on his technique.

As for what the two of them were doing here… they had found themselves on a battlefield after the gods had all lined up. Wen Lu presumed that they had been taken to some alternate space where they would duel each of them. At least, that was how it would have been written in shounen manga….

However, he saw Wen Zhi by his side and ‘hmphed’ with reassurance. It seemed like even the Gods of Defense and Magic Defense were a packaged deal. As for Wen Zhi, he didn’t really care so much if he fought alone or as a pair. Especially since charging ahead on the battlefield was his forte, he was used to leaving his brother to watch his back, whether it was from the commander’s seat or fighting as partners.

“How you holding up there, bro? Since it’s all physical, I’m hardly breaking a sweat, but it wouldn’t do for either of us to fall in such a pathetic way. Lady Kaguya would have our asses if we didn’t both come back together!”

“These armor upgrades are certainly holding up as advertised. I have to hand it to the greatest minds in crafting. They can make miracles happen, even when it comes to adapting an Electi’s powers.”

Typical banter. The twins used it to take their minds off the tedious task of wading through enemy lines. They had been going at it for quite some time, wondering why their opponents even bothered with the fodder. But then again… the established setting of their confrontation felt very gimmicky.

The predictable movements of the soldiers, the way they groaned uniformly after being taken down, and how no one aside from the two of them felt truly alive – it all felt like a game.

“Are you having fun out there!”

A sudden cry cut through the ranks as Wen Lu and Wen Zhi noticed something barreling through. Two enemy officers in full body armor charged forward, mirroring the actions of the twins. A banner protruded from their backs, red with a black symbol of a snake on one and a flower on the other.

Wen Lu and Wen Zhi looked at each other, suddenly noticing banners of their own on their backs, white with a purple sun for one and purple moon for the other.

“When did those get there?!” they cried, pointing at each other.

“Never mind that. It looks like the commanders have finally taken the field. Let’s take them down,” said Wen Lu.

“I’ll take the one with the wild mug. You get the sharp-faced one,” Wen Zhi followed up.

“Our faces are technically the same, you know… but true enough, they emit auras that parallel our own. As expected of our originals.”

“Meh. Original isn’t always better. We’re the version 2.0. The upgrades.”

Continuing with the banter, the two of them lunged with their spears chambered at Man Ho and Man Ching, the Gods of Magic Defense and Defense. Mana clung to the tip of Wen Lu’s spear, while Wen Zhi’s weapon created a gale with brute force. They were blocked with an equal power, naturally as their strengths clashed.

Perhaps, the exchanges would be less of a deadlock if they switched opponents, as their attacks were specialized in what they were strong against. But it felt proper to face their parallel head on. They had to show the gods that they were no longer imitations to be cast off.

Man Ho and Man Ching returned a fierce glare, their bodies glowing white. The Sun twins felt a chill merely looking at them, like when a gang accidentally steps into mafia territory. The toughness of juvenile delinquents didn’t hold up when faced against the hardened resolve of organized crime.

However, this was a battlefield. And they were no longer the foolhardy bunch that dared to challenge others without thinking and nearly lost their lives doing it. Wen Lu had learned his sibling’s bravado when facing against impossible odds, and Wen Zhi had learned his sibling’s consideration when dealing with others.

How things would have changed for them before they met Lady Kaguya, if they had matured prior to that. Yet, neither one of them would agree to go back to those times and continue such a life. Their purpose was here and now. Their backs were supported by someone they cherished. And with that, it gave them the push to continue the exchange.

“Hyaaarggh!”

They charged at their foes in tandem, bringing down a thunderous clap and a land-crushing blow together.

“Spear of the Thunder Dragon!”

“Spear of the Dragon’s Descent!”

These attacks were powerful enough to crush their own defenses, so there was a good chance that they would hurt the respective gods that they came from.

As the dust settled, the Sun twins kept their eyes locked in front of them. They had felt something give after a brief resistance to their attacks. It had hit, but to what extent?

“Did we-”

“Shh, Wen Zhi. Don’t jinx us!”

Before them lay the two gods in a bloody mess, torn in half by the attacks. The twins darted a glance at each other in wonder at how anti-climatic it was, but then, they both felt a tap on their shoulder. They whipped around to see Man Ho and Man Ching standing behind them, perfectly fine.

“Well, wasn’t that a strong attack?”

“Aren’t we glad that this is all a game?”

Wen Lu and Wen Zhi jumped back in surprise before looking down at the fresh corpses. They had surely killed something, so how another pair appeared right away baffled them.

Wen Zhi grew visibly annoyed at the trickery, leaping forward before Wen Lu could stop him. He slashed at both of them, bisecting this new pair in two. They watched as the top halves fell to the ground with a bloody splat.

“Bravo, you’ve killed us once again. Such refined skills our incarnations have this time!”

Once again, the twin gods appeared some distance next to them, unharmed seemingly. Wen Zhi wanted to cut them down again, but Wen Lu put a hand on his shoulder.

“Stop, it’s pointless. They’ll just create another body somehow.”

Man Ho perked up at that. “Splendid, just as I would expect of myself. It’s true. We can just keep creating more and more of ourselves to receive your attacks, dummy bodies that expire in place of the original. After all, it was us who gave the Architect the idea of using surrogate incarnations in our place to gather the planet’s energy.”

“Rather than risking the irreplaceable, duplicates are free to do as they wish – whether it’s becoming the pinnacle of humanity or becoming a worthless slob. Because they are merely expendable, there is no reason to worry about them,” continued Man Ching.

“There would be no pain, no suffering, when things didn’t go well… perhaps, some time would be wasted, but that feels so insignificant in the scope of things. We are inseparable because of this. Untouchable by anything. You should know as you are us,” the two finished together.

The voices of the gods felt so empty. Like they no longer held any worth in what they had. Wen Zhi could feel it. When he slashed them, they didn’t even move to defend. They just took it as it came, like their lives were all for granted.

And that pissed off Wen Zhi more than anything. He reached up and grabbed Man Ching.

“You. Are. NOTHING like us!” he spat, before slamming the god to the ground.

“And YOU!” Wen Zhi pointed to Man Ho. “You are NOTHING like my brother! You have not moved a single step to protect him! Who cares that you have endless lives?! Who cares that they can be replaced?! I see my brother being hurt, and I DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!”

Wen Zhi ran over and decked Man Ho in the face. Grabbing him by the collar, he held onto him while unleashing his fury on the other god.

But the gods simply laughed as they became bloodied. They laughed at the futility of Wen Zhi’s actions as they had seen themselves die over and over again, so much that they had lost any remorse from it. All they could do was laugh at the futility of a human treasuring what was fleeting. Wen Zhi cut them down to shut them up, only to have two more materialize before them, brand new.

Wen Lu walked over to Wen Zhi, giving him a fist bump to the chest.

“We are in a deadlock, but not for long. After all, we have something that they don’t have, am I right?”

Wen Zhi looked up, a grin of realization on his face.

“Yeah, that we do. Let’s kick their asses with it!”

The two of them touched a stone that was imbedded on the front of their armor, which glowed bluish in contrast to the purple aura that pervaded them. What came from it was not mana from themselves, but from another.

As the stones begin the glow more brightly, the blue mana started to spread across their body, twirling and mixing with their own. It created a beautiful twist of colors, intertwined gently as it formed a cowl around them.

Even across the cosmos, they were still connected. They could feel each other’s powers and draw upon them, a bond that was unlike the empty one that the gods before them now had.

The Sun twins had the protection of their beloved Master, Lady Kaguya Mitsubishi, a divine priestess with the power to channel to the gods. And with her help, they would make sure that the gods felt the impact of their will.